Dakota Mathias has been praised for coming back from a heavy hit to the nose to help the Tasmania JackJumpers beat Melbourne United 84-82 in Hobart on Thursday night.
The guard was left with a bloody nose after a heavy collision during the Round 3 clash at MyState Bank Arena.
He returned in the fourth quarter with his nose taped up after teammate David Johnson fouled out with about six minutes remaining.
Mathias finished with 13 points, nine rebounds and two assists in a game where six players fouled out, equalling the NBL record.
Coach Scott Roth joked about the injury after the game.
“Dakota’s, you know, he’s just got to toughen up a bit. A nose is a nose,” he said.
“I told him I broke mine nine times and played every single time after that without a mask.”
Roth said it appeared Mathias had suffered a bloody nose and a small cut, praising him for putting his hand up to return.
“Just to have him back there for the next five or six minutes was a lifeline for us that we needed,” he said.
Captain Will Magnay, who said he had been through the same thing, said it was difficult to play through.
“You can’t breathe when your nose is taped up like that,” he said.
Magnay said Mathias hit a big free throw after taking the knock and called him “a tough kid”.
The club later shared a post about Mathias set to Chumbawamba’s Tubthumping, saying nothing was stopping him.
Fans flooded the comments with praise.
“Take my hat off to him. I would’ve been in a ball crying still after that hit,” one fan wrote.
Another responded to Roth’s jab by calling Mathias “a warrior and a true JackJumper”.
Magnay expects him to be fine for Saturday’s game against the Bullets in Brisbane.
The JackJumpers next play at home when they host the Adelaide 36ers at MyState Bank Arena on October 16.
